SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police in Southwest Miami-Dade said they were forced to open fire on a man wanted in connection to an armed home invasion, sending the suspect to the hospital.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the incident in the area of Quail Roost Drive and Southwest 115th Avenue, Monday night.
Investigators said the shooting happened at around 7:15 p.m., but the series of events that led up to it started hours earlier, when officers received a “be on the lookout” for a vehicle connected to an armed home invasion in the area.
“He went in, utilized a rock and beat the victims,” said Miami-Dade Police detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
Detectives said he was also armed with a handgun.
Police said the suspect was also wanted for violation of probation for second-degree murder out of Sarasota.
“The fact that this person is on probation and violates their probation for second-degree murder, it only goes to show how violent in nature this person can be, and he definitely showed it today.”
Zabaleta described what unfolded when officers spotted the suspect.
“Once the officers were working the area, they see the car, and they identify the car, and they see the tag, and they confirm that it is the vehicle,” he said. “They attempt to approach the vehicle, and that’s when the subject utilizes the vehicle to try to hurt and harm the officers.”
It was at this point when, police said, the officers discharged their firearms.
“There were shots fired. The subject was struck, transported to Jackson South and is in critical condition,” said Zabaleta.
Christina Garcia described the chaotic scene.
“I heard when he hit the WallMax vehicle there, and then they pinned him from behind,” she said, “and when they pinned him from behind is when the cops came out of the car and surrounded it. I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, like, this just happened right in front of me.'”
“The officers did not sustain any injuries,” Zabaleta noted.
Just after 11 p.m., 7News cameras captured an active scene, hours after police closed off a large area.
Crime scene investigators were preventing access to several area businesses located in shopping plazas on both sides of Quail Roost Drive, as they continue to search for clues.
Police said the victims of the home invasion are shaken up, but their conditions are unknown.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take the lead on the investigation.
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